Wrath of the Fairy Queen!
by rustedstardust
Summary: Billy auditions for the lead in the school play, "Trials of the Fairy Queen", and by some miracle gets the part! However, his co-star is rather uncooperative. With strange things beginning to happen, it soon becomes apparent that this play-and this girl-are not all that they seem. But, in his line of work, what is?
1. The Play

It was a cold, gray day in the middle of March, and the halls of Torrington Academy were unusually abuzz with activity. Normally, one might name the cause as Spring Fever. However, despite the ever-changing weather, this was not the case.

Step-siblings Martin Mystery and Diana Lombard walked through the halls, trying to avoid the mob of other students rushing to and from like an unpredictable tide. Diana let out a frustrated sigh. "Guh! What's with everyone today?! If they don't move soon we'll be late for English!"

Martin let out a short bark of a laugh, eyes half-shut with a lazy smile gracing his lips. "That doesn't sound so bad to me." Opening one eye fully, he gave his sister a mischievous grin. "I'm surprised you don't know what's up, Di. I thought an overachiever like you would have known..."

Diana raised a suspicious eyebrow at Martin. "Would have known?", she asked, dubiously. "Known what?"

The grin widened impishly as Martin spoke, with a small chuckle. "The cast list for the school play is up today! I'd have thought you'd be right up there with everyone else."

Diana halted in her tracks, glass-green eyes widening like a deer caught in someone's headlights. English class had, apparently, been forgotten. "They're out?! Already?!" Without another word, the teen girl began sprinting towards the large cluster of people, brown hair flying behind her.

Her brother shrugged, impish grin still plastered there, and sauntered after her. Nothing was ever as much fun as getting under Diana's skin.

"Scuse me! Coming through, excuse me, pardon me-Watch your hands there, buddy!" Diana shoved (as politely as possible, of course) past the mob of other students until finally, there it was. Breath held and hands nearly shaking, she scanned the page until...

"No way!" The words she half-gasped were both indignant and surprised; this couldn't be possible, could it? "I-I'm not Belinda?"

"Of course not; you're Diana, remember?" Like one of the paranormal beings he so obsessed over, Martin appeared next to his sister, seemingly out of nowhere. His grin, however, faded a bit when he saw the death glare Diana was giving him. "So, who's Belinda anyway?"

"She's the leading lady of the play," she replied, still sounding puzzled. "She's a young shepherdess living under the oppression of her abusive mother and sister!" Di was so caught up in the magic of the role, she nearly forgot it wasn't even hers. "The play is about how Belinda falls in love with the prince of the fairies, Kalen, and how he has to face three tests set up by his mother, Queen Mab, and win her hand. But while he does this, Belinda is trapped in the realm of the fairies. And if he doesn't complete the three challenges in time, she'll stay there forever and be turned into a hobgoblin!"

"Huh. Sounds about as boring as most of the other stuff you're into." Martin shrugged, giving another of his trying smirks.

Diana growled. "It is NOT boring! It's a beautiful love story deeply rooted in English mythology! And they have me cast as Azelma, Belinda's evil sister!"

Before Martin could comment, Diana raised a finger. "I swear, if you even try to make a sarcastic comment about that I'll slap you." The boy closed his mouth, sulking.

"So then, Miss Evil Sister; who _did _get to be the leads?"

Her finger traced the list once more, eyes narrowed in concentration. "Somebody named...Maggie Thorne?" Diana's head cocked to one side in confusion. "I don't think I've heard that name before. Well, whoever she is, she's one lucky girl. She gets to star alongside-!"

Diana gasped. "No. Way! Martin...take a look at who's playing Kalen!"

Both teenagers gazed at the sheet, eyes widened in utter disbelief of the name printed alongside "Kalen; the Fairy Prince". It was just...too impossible. Each turned around, dumbfounded, to face the innocently-grinning visage of school's next lead actor.

"Billy?!"


	2. An Awkward First Meeting

Billy gazed hopefully up at Diana and Martin, their confusion and disbelief only further proving his suspicions. "Did I get it? Did I get the part?!"

The siblings shot each other a look before returning to Billy. Diana was the first to speak. "Billy...why didn't you tell us you were going to audition? We totally would have been there to cheer you on if we knew!"

The disguised alien simply shrugged. "Didn't seem important at the time."

Martin, who had been biting his lip to hold back raucous laughter, finally slipped, allowing a rather loud cackle to escape. "What made you want to try out for such a dorkfest, anyway?"

He crossed his skinny arms, offering a pout Martin's way. "Hey, I said I wanted to do things like a normal teen, right?" His pout gave way to a sly grin. "Plus, I figured it would be a nice way to meet girls."

Martin laughed again, this time in admiration, and threw his arm around Billy. "You sly dog! Hey, if it works, maybe I'll try out for next year's play."

"Don't you dare, Martin Mystery!" Diana's hands were clenched into tight fists, teeth gritted to where they threatened to chip if she did so any harder. "The theatre is serious business, and you two are just...just...mocking it!"

Once again, Billy looked up at her with that wide-eyed expression that made him look very much like an innocent child. He actually seemed a little hurt by her words. "Gosh, Diana...I really did want to be in the play."

The heat of her fury cooled from boiling to a simmer. "Sorry, Billy. I guess I'm just a little bugged about not getting to be Belinda. Congratulations on getting Kalen, though."

Billy cocked his head curiously, tendrils of synthetic hair bouncing as he did so. "You _didn't _get the part?" He was genuinely surprised; he'd seen Diana perform before, and she was a natural actress. Whoever was playing Belinda must be a pro or something. "Well then, who did?"

Diana shrugged. "Some girl named Maggie Thorne. But the thing is, I don't think I've ever met someone around here with that name."

_"Unnng!"_

An unfamiliar groan caused all three of their heads to turn; standing there, looking as if she'd just been told a dear relative had been hit by a bus, was a girl. Her bushy black hair fell into her dark, olive face and neck, tumbling over a pair of glasses and framing the freckles that dotted her heart-shaped face. In her hands was a bright yellow cane that supported her slight weight, held so tightly her knuckles were almost white from the strain. Diana's eyes widened, the floodgates of recognition bursting forth in her brain.

Maggie Thorne. Of course, how could she have forgotten so easily?! Maggie Thorne or, as most people at Torrington called her, That Girl with the Cane. She wasn't really anything special; in fact, a decent portion of the student body (and even a few teachers) didn't remember that she had a real name. She was called "you", "hey you" or, worst of all, "the cripple" by a few inept or heartless souls. Diana bit her lip, thinking that even _Martin_ wasn't cruel or thoughtless enough to behave in such a way. Maggie, who went through the halls, as quiet and dark as a bad omen, never really interacting with people, not joining any activities, attached to nothing and nobody. She was a mystery nobody cared enough to solve.

"Hey, Maggie..." Diana's voice was high-pitched and fluttery, cautious as though she were speaking to a loaded gun and not another student. "Congratulations on making Belinda! I never would have thought _you_ would have-" Diana cut herself off; however unintentionally, she was beginning to sound rude.

Maggie replied, voice flat and even a little bitter, "You and everyone else."

"I-I'm sorry, I never meant to be rude. I just-"

This time, Maggie cut Diana off. "It's fine, alright? I know what you meant."

"Oookay." The brunette replied, hesitantly. She didn't know a lot about Maggie. Nobody really did. But still, Diana never assumed she was so rude. Deciding to change the subject, she beamed, suddenly pushing Billy forward. He let out a startled squeak. "Well hey! While you're here, I may as well introduce you to your new costar! Billy, this is Maggie. Maggie, Billy."

Billy had no idea what to do; usually, when he froze up in front of girls, it was because they were too gorgeous for him to form a coherent sentence. But this...this was different. For one thing, she was rather short for a human teenager. For the first time in his brief existence at Torrington, he had met someone whom he could meet at eye level, and right now he had no idea whether to be grateful or unnerved. Another thing, she seemed to stare right into him, rather than at him. Her eyes were huge, and so dark brown they nearly appeared black, and they showed nothing about her. They betrayed no emotion, exposed no secrets. It was like looking into an abyss, and he didn't like it one bit.

_C'mon, Billy!, _he thought frantically, _say something already!_

"H-Hello~" The words cracked as he spoke, sliding a trembling hand forward. "It's, uh, nice to...to...Hi." The words turned to ash in his mouth as he tried to speak from under the weight of her gaze.

Maggie did not offer a hand in return. Instead, she narrowed her eyes lazily, offering a humorless smirk. "You have such a way with words. We can save the meetings for later, okay? We're going to be seeing a lot of each other in the next two months, and I'm late for class anyway. I'll see you at practice, kid. Later."

With that, she turned and began to walk away, the clicking of her cane on the tiled floors echoing throughout the hall.

"...What was that all about?" Martin had been silent for, what for him, qualified as a record amount of time. He had been as dumbstruck as the rest of them about the weird girl.

Billy let out a small whine. "I have no idea. But I think I'm starting to regret this decision."


End file.
